NSW: NT Aboriginal leader to address Bankstown protest

Rally 3pm Friday August 23

Bankstown Station North Side

corner Fetherstone st and North Terrace - opposite Compass Centre

Say NO to Government Income Management

Not in Bankstown, not in the NT, not Anywhere!

Stop the targeting of marginalised youth

Speakers include:

• Barbara Shaw, Aboriginal leader from Alice Springs living on income management
• Steve Caslick, Industrial Officer Public Service Association (NSW)
• Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon
• Representatives from the Say No to Government Income Management campaign coalition

Income management quarantines 50 per cent of the Centrelink payments of certain groups. The system was first forced on Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory as part of the NT Intervention. Now Bankstown is also being targeted as the only “trial site” in NSW.

Since July, the scheme has been rolling out to young people going through hard times. Youth who are “unable to live at home” because of abuse and young people exiting prison are being forced onto income management.

Barbara Shaw, an Aboriginal leader from Alice Springs, is traveling to Bankstown to speak out against income management at the protest on August 23:

“Income management has made it much harder to look after my family and has made our social problems and the racism we face much worse. More than $500 million has been spent on income management in the NT - a disgusting waste of funds when my people are in such desperate need”.

The campaign in Bankstown is making a real difference. The government wanted 1000 people on the system in Bankstown every year, but after more than 12 months there were only a handful on compulsory income management. The Public Service Association (PSA), who represent Child Protection workers in Bankstown, have voted to ban income management and have made no referrals.